Game of Life
by Aki0Storyteller0
Summary: Life is not a game, they say. But they never saw what I saw when I died then. I think I made a mistake when I choose this world for my next life. I didn't really think... Ripples create waves and my existence is causing at least a few. I just hope I'm not changing the story too much... [pairs not decided, rating may change]
1. Chapter 1

_**(Disclaimer: I own only my OCs.)**_

 _ **(A/N: So, I started writing on this tale years ago and after reading a few fanfics on I found the inspiration to continue writing on this story. So, thanks to the authors of**_ Dreaming of Sunshine _ **(Silver Queen),**_ Decaying Bluebells _ **(Darkpetal16),**_ For Whom the Bell Tolls _ **(cywscross),**_ Top of the Tree _ **(Cupcake Loopy),**_ A Play With Words _ **(XER9AF),**_ Only a Moron _ **(swabloo),**_ May you Live in Interesting Times _ **(Aoichibi), and**_ Aberration _ **(Rin O' Gen), also thank you to the many other Naruto Fanfiction writers for inspiring this story; these tales have been a wonder to read (regardless of if they are completed or not) and have made me want to challenge myself. Also, I'd like to suggest that anyone who hasn't read these tales give them a try; I've been told I'm a very picky person who is hard to satisfy and I love these stories I've listed above.)**_

Game of Life

A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 1:

Game Over

Living life as a ninja was never really something that I thought I could do. I mean, sure, as a little kid I had played ninja. Most of my friends had played ninja too. It was just one of the games we had played.

But when you're fifteen going on sixteen, you don't play those games anymore. Then again, usually at the age of fifteen or sixteen one doesn't find oneself staring down the front end of a car moving at high speeds.

Car meet Kate; Kate, car. Kate meet Death; Death, Kate.

 _Great, just great; almost sixteen and I'm dead. Whoop-de-fucking-do, now what am I supposed to do?_ At least, that's what I had thought at the time. I didn't expect for whoever the person or people are out there that have higher power to actually give me a choice in what was to happen to me, but I was… in a weird way.

I was in a white void with nothing to see in any direction. I sighed and looked around a few more times hoping that something would appear. Then it was like someone had flipped a light switch and everything went dark for a moment before the whiteness came back, but with it came some words.

 **GAME OVER**

I stared at the large, bold, all capital letter words. _What the heck? My life really was a game, are you serious? And, everyone says life's not a game._

It floated there in the air in front of me for a few moments before dissolving into new words.

 **CONTINUE?**

-YES

-NO

"Why the fucking hell would I want to go back to that life?" I muttered to myself. The "NO" lit up for a moment before all the words changed again.

 **NEW GAME**

LOAD

 **OPTIONS**

 **QUIT**

I stare at the list before me, "Are you kidding me?" I pointed at the "OPTIONS" and new words came into being.

OPTIONS

- **WORLD**

- **BACK**

"Umm… World, I guess?"

WORLD

- **NARUTO**

- **NORMAL**

- **BLEACH**

-FINAL FANTASY

- **INUYASHA**

-POKÉMON

-KINGDOM HEARTS

- **MY LITTLE PONY**

- **SAMURAI WARRIORS**

-TALES OF SYMPHONIA

-LORD OF THE RINGS

-YU YU HAKUSHO

- **BACK**

"Okay, Naruto is a good anime and manga. Normal, I guess is like the life I just lost. I can't pick Final Fantasy, Pokémon, Kingdom Hearts, Tales of Symphonia, Lord of the Rings, or Yu Yu Hakusho. That sucks, seeing as I really like those options. I'm not choosing My Little Pony; I don't want to be a pony. I don't want to deal with the stuff that happens in Bleach. I don't really care to meet anyone from Inuyasha or Samurai Warriors." I couldn't help but shiver at the idea of some of the choices (*cough*MyLittlePony*cough*). "So the only choices left are Naruto or a life like what I had? I know what world I'm choosing then." I pointed at "NARUTO" and then "BACK".

 **NEW GAME**

LOAD

 **OPTIONS**

 **QUIT**

I looked at the words before me, shrugged, and pointed to the words "NEW GAME". Everything went dark.

We are told that the birth of a child is a wonderful thing, but all I can think when the topic comes up is 'yuck' and 'what's so great about that?' I could tell you exactly what it was like to experience a birth from the point of view of the infant, but I'll spare you that… Just, no, not going to talk about my birth; it was traumatizing enough and I don't want to be reminded of it any more than I've already have been.

I never got the chance to meet my new parents, not really. I guess I shouldn't worry about them any. I mean, I wasn't really important to them… they ditched me with some lady. She was nice and pretty and she seemed to be disappointed that my parents had done so. She often ranted about how they left without a backwards glance and how I, her 'little angel', shouldn't have been treated in such a way. I wasn't old enough that I could actually see things all that well when my parents made their choice.

I remember being extremely quiet compared to the other kids under Kaede's care, which made Kaede worry… I didn't cry as much as the other babies and as I got older I didn't scream and make a lot of noise like the other kids. I was an oddball, but Kaede said that I was an innocent little girl with an old soul or that maybe I was just mature (very mature) for my age.

Kaede was a woman of average height with an average build, but she was still pretty. She had violet eyes and hair the color of wheat. Kaede is one of the people who ran the orphanage; she also just so happened to be the nicest of them. Yoshi was nice too, but he tended to try and avoid us kids as much as he could.

My name is Kaito and as I'm sure you've noticed I'm an orphan. I was once told that I'm a very unique individual. I was always a quiet child, that was why the caretakers liked me, but they disliked my refusal to be adopted. I could have gotten a family if I had wanted to, but I couldn't really stand the people that came to adopt. I lived in the orphanage with Kaede and Yoshi and everyone until I was about 6 years old or so, when I became a genin. But let me explain, in more details, about that point in my life; it'll help you to understand things that happened later in my life…

 **(editted: 1/23/16)**


	2. Chapter 2

_**(A/N: OMG, I'm so pleased to know that people like this story and want to see what happens! ^w^**_

 _ **Response to Reviews:**_

 _ **Naomi – I'm glad you approve and thanks; I wanted it to have a bit of a game like feel to it. ^^**_

 _ **Whitewind04578 – I'm glad it appears interesting to you. I do plan to keep going with it.**_

 _ **Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy the story.)**_

Game of Life

A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 2:

Learning

I sat at the table, the one that was low to the ground in what was probably supposed to be a living room – yet seemed more like a playroom thanks to all the toys laying around -, and stared at the other kids that were running around. Hideki-san was yelling at them to stop running and screaming as Yoshi tried to help a little brunette with her homework. Kaede sat next to me trying to get me to focus on some memory game that I had no interest in. "Kaito-chan, which card is the red one?" The cards were on the table, turned so that the red, blue, and green sides of the three cards were facing the surface of the table and a dull brown color was visible. I glanced at the blond woman and then at the cards, already bored with the game. I pointed at the middle card and then turned to watch the others. "That's right." I could hear her moving the cards around. "Now, I want to find the blue one." I glanced over and turned the one closest to Kaede over; it was blue. _Lucky guess_ , I thought. Before Kaede could try anything else, I turned and crawled away from her towards the open doors that led to the backyard and sat watching some of the others playing a game they called "ninja".

"Wow! Pretty!" a little girl, maybe three, exclaimed as she rushed over to me. One of the other kids yelled after her; she had abandoned their game. I stared at her. What was she calling 'pretty'? Was she talking about my outfit? It was a pink dress. _Ugh, pink, how I hate thee._ Or maybe she was talking about my gold eyes? A weird and highly unusual color, but apparently completely natural. Or my silver-y blue hair? Also weird and made me think of several families in several different series that I'd read and-slash-or watched in my past life, but there were three different families that had that hair color in this world. I glanced passed the brunette at the mountain that sported three faces, all male, before turning my attention back to her.

The Hokage faces on the mountain were how I'd first discovered where and a vague idea of when I was. Only have three Hokage faces told me that it was before the end of the Third Shinobi War. I wasn't sure if Minato was still a kid, if he was a student of Jiraiya yet, or what. What about Kakashi? Was he even born yet? What about Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru? Were they still in the village? Or were they already out there fighting in the war? Had the third war even started yet? Was the second war over? Too many questions and not enough answers. All I could tell at this point was that the Fourth Hokage hadn't been picked yet… or rather that his face wasn't yet being displayed with the faces of the other Hokage. I just knew that I was a little girl in an orphanage in Konoha and I hated not knowing. How was I supposed to plan for anything?

"Wha?" I asked, hiding my thoughts and frustrations as best as I could. The brunette, instead of answering me, reached out and started to pet my hair in the same manner as one would a cute cat or dog. "No," I said as I moved away from her and back inside. I'd rather play Kaede's memory games than be treated like I was a pet.

It wasn't long after that that I started demanding that someone teach me how to read. I could read a little, mostly thanks to my last life where I'd been starting to learn the language; Japanese is a pretty complex language and I'd only gotten to take about a semesters worth of classes. Thus I had at least a little bit of knowledge but I still needed someone to help me.

Not too long after my fourth birthday, I entered the Academy. To say that Kaede and the other caretakers were proud would be an understatement. On the first day of classes, Kaede walked with me to the Academy. Several of the other kids from the orphanage were with us, they were also entering the Academy.

 _ **(A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is short.)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**(A/N: I'm sorry to have not gotten some story chapters out sooner; I've been super busy thanks to school that only now that I've got finals have I been able to actually sit down and write some more and get some editing done. Unfortunately, some family matters have come up and it may be awhile before anything else gets posted.)**_

Game of Life

A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 3:

Revelations and Academy Students

It wasn't even a week after entering the academy that I noticed something was different about myself. I was standing at the bathroom sink, staring in shocked surprise at the little marks that I hadn't noticed around my eyes before. I gulped; worry suddenly knotting my stomach into all kinds of interesting shapes. Kaede had never mentioned any names whenever she went on a rant about my "stupid, naïve, and selfish" (to quote Kaede-san) parents. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your view), I didn't need to ask her for one parent's name; my golden eyes and the little purple marks that had started to appear were all I needed to see in order to know exactly who my father was. _Son of a biscuit…_ I was quick to get face paint, in as close a color as I could to my skin tone, to hide the marks. I had hoped to find some that would be hard to remove, but could only find the kind that came off with water. Kaede-san and the other caretakers didn't really seem to notice, but maybe they did and just didn't say anything about it; the marks _had_ been barely noticeable when I discovered them.

* * *

I sat in the last row of desks, the one that put me with only the wall at my back, and sat with the window to my left. I frowned as my eyes swept over the room. Everyone but Sensei was already here; some people were talking, some were just goofing off, and then there were some who were rushing to finish homework or something. I didn't really care. I was one of the people that were usually avoided; not that I really minded…

I had just turned my gaze back towards the world outside the window when the classroom door opened and in walked the teacher. I looked down at him; he looked annoyed, which was pretty usual for him. He really didn't seem to like us that much; not that I could really blame him, what with half the class choosing to either fall asleep or not pay attention in class. But it was clear that he was proud of some of us.

Some of us were younger than our classmates and yet doing better than them. We were referred to as tensai, or prodigies - geniuses - in a word. I knew that I wasn't really one, but no one else did; they didn't know that I'd lived once before… in a different world without chakra. I had an unfair advantage. I knew what could come, a possible future. I say 'possible future' because at the time, I didn't know what changes would come from my existence. Ripples create waves and waves create change. I knew I was making ripples, and thus waves, just by being alive.

I mean, I knew a lot of the stuff being taught at the Academy simply because of school from my old life, not that some of the subjects were the same. There were a lot of classes and the higher up, grade wise, you go the more freedom you had in choosing classes. Some classes were the same, like math classes, and some were different, like history – 'cause, let's face it, history classes from my old world and this one would be completely different.

Anyway, with how well I was doing in school, this would be my first and last year in the academy; after all, we were almost halfway through the school year and I was learning the same material as the graduating class.

Oh, and I'd finally learned when in the Naruto timeline I was. I had classes with Kakashi, Rin, and Obito. At this rate, I could graduate by my sixth birthday... Kami, that'd mean I'd graduate with Kakashi… I don't think I want to. I so don't want to be his teammate. I mean, Kakashi was my favorite character in the show, when I knew this life as an anime, but if I remember right; wasn't Kakashi a little snot nosed brat when he was a kid?

How had I met them? Obito was late on the first day of school, so he missed orientation. Rin and I both had gotten an extra file that the teachers were handing out. Rin and I talked for a little and she pointed out some of the other kids to me. Kakashi and I had ended up standing next to each other in the little lines that they made us stand in. Rin and I both helped Obito out when he showed up. Could I go into more detail about it all? Yes, am I gonna? Nope, don't feel like it.

"Kaito," Sensei called.

"Yes, Sensei?" I replied, my gaze still focused on some birds flying around outside.

"What is the answer to question four?" Sensei asked. I turned my attention towards the board where Sensei had written up four problems for us to solve. I quickly read the question and did some quick mental math.

"A = 89." I replied as I rested my cheek against my left hand. I was so bored. And math sucks. I hate school.


End file.
